Shawn Ryan - most famously creator, writer, show-runner of The Shield, easily one of the best shows ever on television, and arguably the best - was brought aboard Lie to Me this season to add some visceral punch to the intellectual power Lie to Me already had. This was never more apparent, and successful, than in Lie to Me 2.8 this past Monday.This could have been an episode of The Unit, another great show executive produced by Ryan. Lightman takes a trip to Afghanistan, to sort through an ... Read Full Story

An outstanding 2009 finale of V, Season 1, Part 1 tonight - episode 1.4 - with not more to come until close to the Ides of March, 2010.V previously attacked Obama's health care reform, and tonight took a swipe at the swine flu vaccine - it's apparently being spiked with some Visitor drug on V. I support health care reform, and have no reason to think the flu vaccine is subject to some sort of conspiracy in our world, so I disagree with the political connotations of V while enjoying its darin... Read Full Story

"Flowers for Algernon," correctly thought by many to be one of the best novelettes ever written, turned into a novel and movies and soon a movie starring Will Smith, tells the story of mentally disadvantaged Charley, given an operation that turns him into a genius, only to slip excruciatingly back to his lower intelligence, when he and we learn that the treatment doesn't last. Daniel Keyes's 1959 masterpiece tugs at every heart string known to humanity, and leaves you gasping for air at the ... Read Full Story

This season of Dexter has been exulting in surprises ... Debra and Lundy being gunned down ... the Trinity killer not the man who fired that gun, after all ... and tonight's Episode 4.9 pulled out a last-minute stunner at the top of its league ...The set up: a tale of two Thanksgivings - chez Dexter and chez Trinity killer - and Dex is at both of them (not at the same time - this isn't Fringe - but even so).At Dex's, Rita allows the pain-in-the-A neighbor to kiss her, and Vince sees it. I ne... Read Full Story

Been a truly banner week for Twice Upon a Rhyme, my 1972 LP, in both New York City and Los Angeles.Here's how this tale of two coasts happened:You may recall I mentioned the tasty lunch and great conversation I had at the City Diner in Manhattan last month with Evan LeVine, appreciator of fine 1960s music and all-around significant popular culture.Well, after the conversation, Evan's perambulations took him to the Rockit Scientist Record store on St. Mark's Place, also in Manhattan. What I d... Read Full Story

An endearing episode 5.8 of Bones last night, with a winning performance by Ralph Waite, who continues a sterling career in his senior years. On Bones, he plays Booth's grandfather - "Pops" - who raised Booth and his brother after Pops evicted their father from their lives. Booth's father had been beating him.As in most of the episodes this season, the best story is in these personal interludes and not the skeletal puzzle at hand. Pops sees what every viewer and everyone other than Bones... Read Full Story

Fringe really hit its stride last night, with an episode 2.8 not just about the Eternal Bald Observer, who we've been wanting to know more about, but the Eternal Bald Observers. It was a superb standalone story, with intellectual verve and real heart, and also moved the central story of Peter and Walter importantly along.The Observers are indeed in effect eternal - I first called the Observer Eternal Bald when he was first introduced in episode 1.4 last year, as a way of pointing out that sc... Read Full Story

Ain't it good to hear Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm," and see him sing it in a vid? This was the theme song and the theme of tonight's FlashForward 1.9, which peeled back a little more of the paradox of the story to reveal ... more fine paradox, and a mystery tramp, too.Bryce goes to Japan to find Keiko, the Japanese roboticist and lover of Hendrix and Dylan, aka the woman he saw and found and knew he loved - and she him - in his flashforward. Significantly - a very important insight into... Read Full Story

The Visitors got visas in 1.3 tonight, and the twists and surprise identities continue to abound.1. Erica stops a human from killing Marcus (Anna's top adviser), but it turns out the would-be assassin is a Visitor. They apparently were testing our (human) willingness to protect the Visitors, or perhaps even just Erica's.2. Ryan goes to see another fifth columnist - a Visitor on our side - who tries (unsuccessfully) to turn Ryan into the Visitors.3. Up on the ship, Erica's partner, unpeeled a... Read Full Story

Eli Loker (Brendan Hines), one of the best characters on Lie to Me, in which all of the central characters are outstanding, has been in Lightman's dog house since the middle of the first (last year's) season, when Loker alerted the Security Exchange Commission about the results of a case he was working on. Lightman nearly fired Loker, settled for demoting him to a lowly unpaid intern, with an injunction that Loker needed to show he could really "contribute" to the organization.In last night'... Read Full Story